DOI: 10.4103/mjbl.mjbl_1627_23 ISSN: 1812-156X
Evaluation of Tumor Necrosis Factor—Alpha Gene Expression in Iraqi Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Fatimah Kareem Kadhem, Ismail A. Abdul-Hassan Abstract
Background:
Type II diabetes mellitus T2DM is formerly known as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus the most common form diabetes mellitus of characterized by hyperglycemia, insulin resistance (IR), and relative insulin deficiency. Tumor necrosis factor-
α
(
TNF-α
) an inflammatory cytokine produced mainly by monocytes and macrophages, may play an important role in obesity-associated IR and diabetes.
Objective:
This study was conducted to investigate the association between tumor necrosis-alpha (
TNF-α
) gene expression with obesity and T2DM.
Materials and Methods:
For this purpose, 100 samples were collected from National Center of Teaching Laboratories in Medical City. About 50 of them were patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 50 apparently healthy individuals as controls. All samples were subjected to whole RNA extraction using
TransZol
UpPlus RNA kit. Total RNA concentrations varied between 15 and 25 ng/μL. Total RNA was reverse-transcribed to complementary DNA (cDNA) using EasyScript One-Stepg DNA Removal. The expression levels and fold changes of the
TNF-ɑ
gene were estimated using the
TransStart
Green qPCR Super Mix kit. The patients group was subdivided into two groups, patients who have body mass index (BMI) equal to 18.5–25 as a normal weight and patients with BMI more than 30 as obese group. The real time PCR was used for quantification of
TNF-ɑ
concentrations.
Results:
Our study showed HbA1c values were significantly (
P
< 0.05) higher in normal weight and obese T2DM patients than in apparently healthy subjects. The levels of triglycerides and VLDL in serum, also, were significantly (
P
< 0.05) increased in obese T2DM when compared with apparently healthy subjects and normal-weight T2DM patients, moreover LDL levels were unaffected by T2DM in this study. The gene expression of
TNF-ɑ
gene according to the HbA1c increased 5.1-fold in T2DM patients with HbA1c within 9%–13%.
TNF-ɑ
gene expression increased 3.6-fold in obese T2DM patients.
Conclusion:
In Conclusion, the increase in
TNF-ɑ
gene expression levels parallel the increase in BMI and HbA1c. To our knowledge, there is a very few studies in Iraq dealing with the relationship between
TNF-ɑ
gene expression and T2DM.